CHAPTER VII.NORMANDY.

CONTENTS.

Triapsal churches—Churches at Caen—Intersecting Vaulting—Bayeux.

Withone or two slight exceptions, the whole history of the Round-arched Norman Gothic is comprehended within a period of less than a century. No building in this style is known to have been even commenced before the year 1050, and before 1150 the pointed style had superseded it in its native province. Indeed, practically speaking, all the great and typical examples are crowded into the last fifty years of the 11th century. This was a period of great excitement and prosperity with the Northmen, who, having at last settled themselves in this fertile province, not only placed their dukes on an equality with any of the powers then existing in France, but by their conquest of England raised their chief to an importance and a rank superior to that of any other potentate in Europe except the German emperors of that day, with whose people they were, in fact, both by race and policy, more closely allied than they were with those among whom they had settled.

611. Triapsal Church, at Querqueville. (From Dawson Turner’s ‘Normandy.’)

There are two exceptional churches in Normandy which should not be passed over in silence: one is a little triapsal oratory at St. Wandrille; the other a similar but somewhat more important church at Querqueville, near Cherbourg, on the coast of Brittany. Both are rude and simple in their outline and ornaments; they are built with that curious herring-bone or diagonal masonry indicative of great age,and differing in every essential respect from the works of the Normans when they came into possession of the province. Indeed, like the transitional churches last described, these must be considered as the religious edifices of the inhabitants before that invasion; and if they show any affinity to any other style, it is to Belgium and Germany we must look for it rather than anywhere within the boundaries of France.

Amongst the oldest-looking buildings of pure Norman architecture is the church of Léry, near Pont de l’Arche. It is the only one, so far as is known, with a simple tunnel-vault, and this is so massive, and rests on piers of such unusual solidity, as to give it an appearance of immense antiquity. There is no good reason, however, for believing that it really is older than the chapel of the Tower of London, which it resembles in most respects, though the latter is of somewhat lighter architecture.

Passing from this we come to a series of at least five important churches, all erected in the latter half of the 11th century. The first of these is the church of Jumièges, the western end of which was principally erected by Robert, afterwards Bishop of London, and finally Archbishop of Canterbury. Its precise date is not very well known, though it was probably begun before 1050, and certainly shows a far ruder and less complete style of architecture than any of the later churches. It is doubtful whether it was ever intended to throw a vault over the nave; yet the walls and piers are far more massive than those of the churches of Caen, or that of Bocherville in its immediate neighbourhood. This last we know to have been commenced in the year 1050, and completed in 1066. This church still retains in a wonderful state of completeness all the features of a Norman church of that age—the only part of which is of a more modern date being the two western turrets, which are at least a century later.

The next of the series is the well-known Abbaye-aux-Hommes, or St. Stephen’s, at Caen (Woodcut No.612), commenced by William the Conqueror, 1066, in gratitude for his victory at Hastings, and dedicated eleven years afterwards. Then follow the sister church of the Trinité, or Abbaye-aux-Dames, commenced in 1083, and the parish church of St. Nicolas at Caen, begun in the following year. These two last were almost certainly completed within the limits of the 11th century.

Of all these the finest is St Stephen’s, which is a first-class church, its extreme length being 364 ft. It was not originally so long, having terminated with an apse, as shown in the plan, Fig. 1, which was superseded about a century afterwards by a chevet, as shown, Fig. 2. This, however, was an innovation—all the round Gothic churches in Normandy having originally been built with apses, nor do I know ofa single instance of a chevet in the province. This circumstance points rather to Germany than to the neighbouring districts of France for the origin of the Norman style—indeed all the arrangements of this church are more like those of the Rhenish basilicas, that of Spires for example, than any of those churches we have hitherto found within the limits of France itself. This is more remarkable at Jumièges than even here. None of them, however, has two apses, nor are lateral entrances at all in use; on the contrary, the western end, or that opposite the altar, is always, as in the true basilica, the principal entrance. In Normandy we generally find this flanked by two towers, which give it a dignity and importance not found in any of those styles we have been examining. These western towers became afterwards in France the most important features of the external architecture of churches, though it is by no means clear whence they were derived. They are certainly of neither Italian nor German derivation, nor do they belong to any of those styles of the Southern provinces of France which we have been describing. The churches of Auvergne are those which perhaps show the nearest approach to them.

Fig. 1. Original Eastern Termination.

Fig. 2.612. Plan of the Church of St. Stephen, Caen. (From Ramée, ‘Histoire de l’Architecture.’) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.

On the whole it appears most probable that the western fronts of the Norman churches were taken from the façades of Germany, and the towers added to give dignity to them. As will be seen from the view (Woodcut No.613), in St. Stephen’s at Caen the feature is well marked and defined; for though the spires were apparently added at the same time as the chevet, the towers which support them evidently belong to the original design. They may be regarded as the prototype of the façades of nearly all the Gothic cathedrals of France. These western towers eventually superseded the attempt made to raise the principal external feature of the churches on the intersection of the nave with the transepts as had been done in the South, and they made the western front the most important part, not only indecoration, but in actual height. Here and throughout the North of France, with the exception of the churches at Rouen, the central tower is low and comparatively insignificant, scarcely even aspiring to group with those of the western façade.

As there are few churches in France which illustrate so completely the difficulties of intersecting vaulting, and the struggle of the Mediæval architects to conquer them, as St. Stephen’s, Caen, it may add to the clearness of what follows if we pause in our narrative to explain what these were.

613. Western Façade of St. Stephen, Caen. (From Pugin and Britton’s ‘Normandy.’)

The churches described hitherto possessed simple tunnel-vaults either of round or pointed forms, or, having no side-aisles, were roofed with square intersecting vaults of equal dimensions each way. The former plan was admissible in the bright South, where light was not so much required: but the latter expedient deprived the churches of several things which were always felt to be the powerful requisites of an internal style of architecture. Without the contrast in height between the central and side aisles, the true effect of the dimensions could not be obtained. Without the internal pillars no poetry of proportion was possible, and without an ambulatory, processions lost their meaning. The compartments of the aisles being square, no difficulty was experiencedas regards them; but the central aisle being both higher and wider, it became necessary either to ignore every alternate pillar of the aisle, and to divide the central roof equally into squares, or to adopt some compromise. This difficulty was not got over till the pointed arch was introduced; but in the meanwhile it is very instructive to watch the various attempts that were made to obviate it.

614. Fig. 1, after Vaulting; Fig. 2, before Vaulting. Section of Nave of St. Stephen, Caen.

615. Diagram of Vaulting.

616. Elevation of Compartment of Nave of St. Stephen, Caen. (From Pugin.)

There can be little doubt that the Norman architects, with true Gothic feeling, always intended that their churches should eventually be vaulted, and prepared them accordingly, though in many instances they were constructed with wooden roofs, or compromises of some sort. Even at Jumièges, the alternate piers were made stronger, and the intention there and in other instances seems to have been to throw a stone arch across the nave so as to break the flat line of the roof, and give it at least a certain amount of permanent character. In the Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen, even this does not appear to have been attempted in the first instance. The vaulting shafts were carried right up and made to support wooden trusses, as shown on the right hand of the diagram (Woodcut No.614).[31]The intention, however, may have been to cut these away when the vault should come to be erected. In England they frequently remain, but rarely, if ever, in Normandy. The next step was to construct a quadripartite vault over the nave, and a simple arch supporting its crown over the intermediate shaft. This was soon seen to be a mistake, and in fact was only a makeshift. In consequence at Caen a compromise was adopted, which the Woodcut No.616will explain,—a sort of intermediate vault was introduced springing from the alternate piers.[32]Mechanically it was right, artistically it was painfully wrong. It introduced and declareda number of purely constructive features without artistic arrangement or pleasing lines, and altogether showed so plainly the mere mechanical structural wants of the roof as to be most unpleasing. Before, however, they could accomplish even this, the side-aisles had to be re-vaulted with pointed arches so as to carry the centre of gravity higher. A half vault was thrown over the gallery as shown in Fig. 1, on the left side of the Woodcut No.614, and the whole upper structure considerably strengthened. When all this was done they ventured to carry out what was practically, as will be seen from the plan (Woodcut No.612), and elevation (Woodcut No.616), a quadripartite vault with an intermediate insertion, which insertion was, however, neither quite a rib, nor quite a compartment of a vault, but something between the two; and in spite of all the ingenuity bestowed upon it in Germany, France, and England, in the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries, it never produced an entirely satisfactory effect, until at last the pointed arch came to the rescue. It is easy to see from the diagram (Woodcut No.615) how the introduction of the pointed arch obviated the difficulty. In the first place, supposing the great vault to remain circular, two segments of the same circle,A B,A C, carry the intersecting vault nearly to the height of the transverse one, or it could as easily be carried to the same height as atD. When both were pointed, as atEandF, it was easy to make their relative heights anything the architect chose, without either forcing or introducing any disagreeablecurves. By this means the compartments of the vaults of the central nave were made the same width as those of the side-aisles, whatever their span might be, and every compartment or bay was a complete design in itself, without reference to those next to it on either side.

The arrangement in elevation of the internal compartments of the nave of this church will be understood from Woodcut No.616, where it will be seen that the aisles are low, and above them runs a great gallery, a feature common in Italy, but rare in Germany. Its introduction may have arisen either from a desire for increased accommodation, or merely to obtain height, as it is evident that an arch the whole height of the side-aisles and gallery would be singularly narrow and awkward. This was one of those difficulties which were only got over by the introduction of the pointed arch; but which, whenever attempted in the circular style, led to very disagreeable and stilted effects. It may, however, have been suggested by the abutting galleries we find so frequently used in Southern churches. Be this as it may, the two storeys of the aisles fill up the height far more pleasingly than could be done by one, and bring an abutment up to the very springing of the main vault of the nave.

The worst feature in this elevation (Woodcut No.616) is the clerestory, where the difficulties of the vaulting introduced a lop-sided arrangement very destructive of true architectural effect, and only excusable here from the inherent difficulties of a first attempt.

617. Compartment, Abbaye-aux-Dames, Caen. (From Pugin.)

During the twenty or thirty years that elapsed between the building of St. Stephen’s church and that of the Abbaye-aux-Dames, immense progress seems to have been made towards the new style, as will be seen from the annexed elevation of one compartment of the nave of the latter. The great gallery is omitted, the side-aisles made higher, the piers lighter and more ornamental. The triforium is a mere passage under the upper windows, and so managed as not to intercept their light from any part of the church. Even the vaulting, though in some parts hexapartite, in others shows a great approach to the quadripartite vaulting of the subsequent age; this, however, is obtained by bringing down the main vault to the level of the side vault, and not by raising the side arches to the level of the central, as was afterwards done. The greatest change is in the richness and elegance of the details,which show great progress towards the more ornamental style that soon afterwards came into use.

618. East End of St. Nicolas, Caen. (From Dawson Turner’s ‘Normandy.’)

The parochial church of St. Nicolas at Caen is naturally plainer than either of these royal abbeys. It shows considerable progress in construction, and deserves far more attention than it has hitherto met with. It is the only church, so far as I know, in Normandy, that retains the original external covering of its apse. This consists, as shown in the Woodcut (No.618), of a high pyramidal roof of stone, following to the eastward the polygonal form of the apse, and extending one bay towards the west. From an examination of the central tower, it is clear that this was not the original pitch of the church roof, which was nearly as low in all Norman churches as in those of Auvergne. In this instance the roof over the apse was a sort of semi-spire placed over an altar, to mark externally the importance of the portion of the church beneath it. In appearance it is identical with the polygonal cones at Loches, before mentioned. At Bourges, and elsewhere in France, similar cones are found over chapels and altars; but in most instances they have been removed, probably from somedefect in construction, or from their not harmonising with the wooden roofs of the rest of the church. They were in fact the originals of the spires which afterwards became so much in vogue, and as such their history would be interesting, if properly inquired into.

The cathedral of Bayeux, as now standing, is considerably more modern than either of these; no part now remains of the church of Odo, the brother of the Conqueror, except the lower portion of the western towers, and a crypt which is still older. The pier arches of the nave belong to the first half of the 12th century, the rest of the church to the rebuilding, which was commenced 1157, after the town had been burnt, and the cathedral considerably damaged, by the soldiers of Henry I. At this time the apse was removed to make way for a chevet, which is one of the most beautiful specimens of early pointed Gothic to be found in France, and far surpasses its rival in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes at Caen. In the church at Caen, the alteration was probably made to receive the tomb of the Conqueror, when that veneration began to be shown to his remains which was denied to himself when dying. Here, however, the same motive does not seem to have existed, and it is more probable that the extension was caused by the immense increase of the priesthood in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries, requiring a larger choir for their accommodation. We know from the disposition of the choir, that the nave originally had a great gallery over the side-aisles, and consequently a low clerestory. But before it was rebuilt, in the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century, the mania for painted glass had seized on the French architects, and all architectural propriety was sacrificed to this mode of decoration. In the present instance we cannot help contrasting the solid grandeur of the basement with the lean and attenuated forms of the superstructure, although this attenuation was in other examples carried to a still greater extent afterwards.

619. Lower Compartment, Nave, Bayeux. (From Pugin.)

The diapering of the spandrils of the lower arches (Woodcut No.619) is another feature worthy of remark, as illustrating the history of the style. Before painted glass was introduced, the walls of all churches in Northern Europe were covered with fresco or distemper paintings, as was then, and is to the present day, the case in Italy. But when coloured windows came into use, the comparative dulness of the former mode of decoration was immediately felt, and the use of colour confined to the more brilliant transparent material. It was necessary to find a substitute for the wall painting, and the most obvious expedient was that of carving on the stone the same patterns which it had beencustomary to paint on them. An attempt was made, indeed, to heighten the effect of this carving by inlaying the lines with coloured mastic or cement; but the process was soon found to be not only very expensive but very ineffective, and gave way afterwards to sculptured figures in traceried panels. These ornaments easily filled up the very small spaces of wall that were not occupied either by the windows, which were greatly enlarged, or by the constructive supports of the building. Now, however, that colour is gone both from the walls and the windows, this diapering gives a singularly rich and pleasing effect to the architecture of the lower storey, and, combined with the massiveness and varied richness of the piers themselves, renders this a nearly unique specimen of a Norman arcade, and one of the most beautiful that has come down to us.

These examples are, it is hoped, sufficient to make known the general characteristics of a style which is at the same time of great interest to the English reader from its proximity to our shores, and from its influence on our own, although it is comparatively so familiar as to require less illustration than many others. Besides the examples above described, many other specimens of Norman architecture might have been given, filling up the details of the series, from the rude simplicity of Jumièges to the elaborate richness of the nave of Bayeux, and showing a rapidity of progress and boldness in treating the subject hardly surpassed in the succeeding age; but still, with all its developments, it can only be considered as a first rude attempt to form a style of architecture which was superseded before its principles began to be understood, and lost before it had received any of those finishing touches which form the great element of beauty in all the more perfect styles.

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